Drinol
by HegemonVII
Summary: A short story about a Drinol used in combat. Drinols only appear in Halo concept art, and were originally designed to be a juggernaut-type enemy. the idea has always intrigued me. if you don't know what they are, type in Drinol in google images.


Victor stood very still at the end of the hallway. His ears reached out; listening for anything he should be alarmed about. Indeed, somewhere in the darkness, something was creeping around. Heavy footsteps clicked into Victor's line of fire, revealing a small, orange-armored, very terrified grunt. He jumped into the air with a shriek as Victor pulled the trigger. The grunt came down dead, a bullet through its neck. From the doorway the grunt came out of, Victor heard something shuffling away, back out of the building. It was a sound both relieving and insidious.

He knew that grunt was sent in by some elite just to see if the coast was clear, and Victor and his squad were happy to provide them with an answer every time. There were thirty of them left in this well-barricaded ONI underground installation, and they were doing one hell of a job keeping the covenant out of it.

This place was designed to last a very, very long time against any kind of attack, and Victor thought that it was all working out relatively well. They had been holding the building for a week by now, repelling every attack the covies could possibly throw at them with minimal casualties.

There were only two entrances to the center room; a relatively large place filled with computers and files and clattered desks. Each entrance was a long, shifting hall with several turns. At each turn, there was a barricade manned by several tired, cornered, and furious marines with all the ammo they ever wanted. And these marines were just dying to get their frustrations out of their system. The piles of covenant bodies showed that they were doing a fantastic job.

Victor was at the first barricade of one of these halls for the time being. They switched off in shifts, three men to each barricade. They were about to lose this one since the M247 and the marine behind it took the full blast of a fuel rod cannon. Luckily, Victor was in the other wing at that time, but they had their own troubles.

"Hey, Vic," said a voice from behind him. Victor jumped a little.

"What?"

"The replacements are coming up."

Victor looked back and he could see three marines sneaking over. He was extremely relieved. Something about being up here was more than unsettling. The marine in front gave him a little nod.

"Okay, we'll take it from here."

"About time. Hey, Ryan, they get that prime rib in the mess hall yet?"

"Yeah, but we ate it all. You should have told us you wanted some!"

"Great. What's left?"

"Smoked salmon. Roasted duck. I think there's some barbeque chicken left from the picnic we had."

"Sounds good to me." They all gave a little laugh.

"Good luck, guys. Keep a steady eye."

The walk back seemed to take forever every time he took it. The lights flickered on and off in the dark hall, making him feel disoriented. Every time they passed one of the barricades, the marines asked if they saw any action.

"Nothing big," Victor would reply every time, "I think they're getting discouraged." Then he would laugh and give them an encouraging pat on the back. In truth, the fact that the action died down so much made Victor worry. It was almost like they were getting ready for something big. The Covenant never backed down. They did their job, and they did it well.

Finally, the three reached the center room and took off their packs.

"This time seems to go by so fast," said Greener as he leaned his MA5b against the wall. He then sat in a chair and leaned back with a long sigh, fingers crossed over his stomach.

"That's because you sleep through it every time!" said Tim from across the room. Greener threw and empty mag at him, but Tim was quick to evade it.

"That's what we have guns for, idiot. Remember?"

Victor was too tired to laugh. Instead he stretched out in the middle of the room and fell quickly asleep.

When Victor awoke, it was to the sound of panicked voices. He jumped up with a start and quickly looked around. Gunfire trumpeted out of one of the halls as explosions shook the ground.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, still feeling half asleep.

Greener ran up to him, "You better suit up. Something smashed through the first barricade. They're trying to hold it back."

"What? _It?_"

"It's something big. Not a machine."

"A hunter?"

"I hope."

"Where are they holding it back?"

"Around the wreckage of the first barricade."

"Then we should be able to see it on the cameras." Victor ran to the flight of metal stairs that lead to the security room and ripped open the door. Several screens displayed every turn of the two halls, save for one that showed only static. The next screen showed the turn that the second barricade was facing, and the next was the wall the third barricade was facing, and so on for three more screens for the south wing.

"You have no idea what it is?" Victor asked.

"No idea," said Tim, who had just joined them, "Everyone at the first barricade is dead." Greener said something under his breath. A curse. Maybe a prayer. "It's breaking all the lights. They can't get a good look at it."

Victor continued to watch the screen, his eyes searching for anything that might move into the second hall. Sure enough, something came. Victor had never seen anything like it. Not in the years of combat he had seen, nor any of the training videos. This thing was huge and terrifying even on the screen. It reminded absurdly him of an animal he remembered from school; a strange mammal called the elephant that used to live on earth. This beast filled up the entire hall, muscles rippling under its leathery grey skin. The screen silently showed bullets shattering off of its shields and metal armor coming from somewhere behind the camera. Victor could hear the shots echoing dimly from the hallway. The beast stared down the hall with one angry eye and charged. The camera only showed bullet holes in the wall. An occasional bullet impacted somewhere on-screen, and then all was calm. Victor tried to hear any more sounds of combat, but there were no gunshots, just marines shouting orders frantically. He tried to see something else on the camera that would give him more answers to what was going on. All he saw was a marine get thrown past the camera and hit the far wall with sickening force. He crumpled to the ground in a puddle of blood. The lights went off and the camera showed no more. It got past the second barricade as easily as it had the first. Victor snapped to action.

"We need to get to the forth barricade. Tell the guys from the third hall to bring everything they have back. We can stop it there if we have enough firepower."

"Hoorah," said Tim, running out the door with Greener. Victor followed as he put on his helmet and ensured his gun was fully loaded.

By the time Victor got to the forth hall, the third team was running back with all their gear.

"What the hell was that thing?" yelled one marine who had a SPNKR rocket shouldered as he carried a few ammo boxes.

"Did you see it?" asked Tim.

"I only saw it for a second. No way in hell I was going to stay for any longer than that."

Victor pulled the slide back on his MA5b and said a prayer. Short, simple, to the point. Like he was trained. Then he waited.

No one said a word. Victor could hear thudding steps coming closer and closer. He put his hand on the shoulder of the marine with the rocket, "As soon as that thing shows its ugly face, send it a welcoming gift."

"Hoorah," said the marine.

Everything was silent. Victor's heart was racing as he held his breath.

Then the beast stepped into view. It looked twice as massive, twice as powerful. Its stared ahead at the group of marines with one huge eye. Its armor and exposed teeth were stained with gore. The thing roared, the marines let fly, and everything happened at once.

Hot brass clinked to the floor as the soldiers unloaded their magazines. Nothing seemed to have an effect. The creature charged forward without skipping a beat. From somewhere behind Victor, a rocket flew down the hall and impacted directly into the chest of the monster and detonated, rocking the ground and filling the hall with smoke and ash.

Flashlights clicked on in the silence, illuminating the flecks of unsettled dust in the darkness.

Victor heard the voice of the rocket marine, "I think we got it! I think I got it! You see that? I think i-" two claws on a massive grey hand impaled the marine and cut him off, carrying him screaming into the smoke.

"Kill it! Shoot it! Take it down!" Guns flashed as the creature came charging out of the cloud. It took one marine and smashed him against the wall. Another tripped, shooting frantically and wildly behind him. The monster took him by the leg and threw him down the hall.

"Everyone fall back," shouted Victor, "get to the center room!" The marines ran as fast as they could down the halls, passing the barricades with barely a thought. When what was left with the group got back to the room, they took positions behind whatever cover they could grab and pointed their guns at the entrance.

Again, the beast came charging through, and again, the marines unloaded their weapons.

Victor could see Tim shooting away on the far side of the room. The giant's eye shifted toward him and it charged. It threw desks and cabinets out of its way like they were not even there. Victor could only watch as Tim disappeared under the monster's giant fist, just another casualty in a massive war.

Nothing was working. Everything they threw at it would just bounce right off. Before Victor knew it, the room was ravaged, and he and the beast were the only things left alive.

Victor stood in one corner of the room. The beast was in the other, searching wildly with its one eye. It scanned the room, looking greedily for life to destroy, and then its eye landed solidly on Victor.

The two stared at each other without flinching. Victor was surprised how little fear he had. Maybe he was too tired. Maybe he was too enraged. Either way, Victor realized that he only had one chance.

He had been targeting the creature's eye with every shot, and he had surely hit it many times. There was still no effect. Victor assumed that there was some sort of protection there; a lens or shield or something. Even if that was the case, that eye was still the weakest spot on that thing. Victor just had to get close.

He willed his legs to run at full force toward the beast, which charged right back. In just a few strides, the thing closed the distance. Victor dropped down as the monster swung its mighty arms over him and slid between its legs. It stopped and looked around confusedly. Victor took the opportunity to climb onto the beast's back.

The giant quickly became aware of him, and tried to shake him off. Victor held on for dear life and crawled up to the head. He took out his combat knife and shoved it where the furious eye met leathery skin. He pried, and sure enough, a lens started to peel off. In one motion, Victor pulled the pin off a frag grenade and forced it between the lens and the eye. The creature roared, grabbed hold of Victor, and threw him to the ground. He rolled before hitting a shattered desk, looking up just in time to see the grenade detonate, showering the room with blue blood. The massive beast fell to the ground with a crash, smoldering and twitching in its ruin.

Victor stood up and brushed himself off, shocked that he was still alive. He walked over to the fallen monster and gave a dry chuckle.

"Hoorah," he said to himself as he sat on one of the giant grey arms and lit a cigarette.

A crashing sound from the other hall made him look up. There was another one of the creatures, just as big, just as angry, staring right at Victor.

Victor sighed, patting the dead giant with his hand, "Like what I did to your friend here?"

The beast charged. Victor took out his knife and pulled the pin on another grenade. He chuckled to himself, "They say the first one is always the hardest."


End file.
